A day with the Prince of Wales, an Olympic champion and a lot of wool

When the Prince of Wales invites you to Dumfries House
to talk about his Campaign for Wool, sponsored by M&S, you
dress accordingly. 'I'm wearing four M&S articles,' said Nicholas Coleridge, chairman of the campaign,
in his opening speech. 'Two of them are my socks; one of them is
this very fetching tie.' He didn't elaborate on the fourth, but our
rampant speculation was cut short by the arrival of Sir Paul Smith on stage to extol the virtues of
wool, before proving them all by inviting Olympic
champion gymnast Max Whitlock to perform his medal-winning
routine on one of the dining-room tables wearing a Paul Smith suit.
Which actually happened. Then Sir Paul threw his arm around
HRH's (strictly off limits - touching royalty isn't usually a
thing, obviously) shoulders and pulled him over to meet Max,
insisting that we all take out our (strictly off limits in the
presence of royalty) mobile phones to Instagram it all.

'This is a time when I want to pull the wool over your eyes, but
I won't ram the point home, because it would be such a non-ewe
thing to do,' joked HRH - clearly having as much fun as his guests
and thrilled that the campaign he launched eight years ago to pull
wool-farming back from the brink (when wool-free sheep had been
developed to save the cost of shearing them) has proved a
success. So thrilled, in fact, that he has agreed to act as
patron of the Campaign for Wool for another five
years.

Just another day in the wonderful world of fashion -
proving the point that wool deserves a much better wrap (sorry) in
the fashion line-up. It's naturally renewable, biodegradable,
breathable, fire-resistant, odour-resistant, water-resistant and
generally a healthy, positive, lasting alternative to the
polluting, landfill-filling, man-made fabrics that have threatened
to make it extinct.

Not convinced? Then please look out for the Slowing Down Fast Fashion Film that launched on
Amazon three weeks ago - it's a must-watch made by
Alex James (dishy bassist of Blur, who now runs a cheese farm and
hosts the Feastival every year with Jamie Oliver). If HRH didn't
get you on board, Alex definitely will.

#woolworks. For more information about Slowing
Down Fast Fashion, follow Alex James on Twitter: @thealexjames or follow @slowingfashion on Facebook, Twitter or
Instagram